“Eye of newt, bladder of cobra, and whisker of a rat. Oh! Hi, kiddies. I was just rustling up a sickening snack for a ghastly guest. Let’s see. I need the blood of a sacrificed goat. Whoops! It’s got to be a virgin goat. Guess you’re off the hook, Nellie. Tonight’s story is about a different kind of sacrifice: A sacrifice… made for love.”

Insurance agent James (Kevin Kilner) meets Gloria Fielding (Kim Delaney) to talk about her husband’s policy. This soon turns into him tossing that man, Sebastian (Don Hood) off a balcony for love. Or lust. Or the usual mix that motivates so many in these Tales from the Crypt episodes. The bad part, beyond murder, is that his boss Jerry (Michael Ironside) has been stalking Gloria for years as she’s his ex-girlfriend. In exchange for not going to the law, he starts getting Gloria whenever he wants. But maybe, just maybe, there’s a plan that James doesn’t know about.

Directed by Richard Greenberg (Little Monsters) and written by Steven Dodd and Ross Thomas (who wrote the book that St. Ives is made from), this is as much a film noir as a horror story.

This episode is based on “The Sacrifice” from Shock SuspenStories #10. It was written by Al Felder and Willam Gaines and drawn by Jack Kamen.